6 A fool’s talk is for ever embroiling him; let him but open his mouth, blows will follow. 7 From his own words his undoing comes, from his own lips the snare. 8 Innocent enough seem the words of the back-biter, yet their poison sinks deep into a man’s belly.

10 No stronghold like the Lord’s name; there the just take refuge, high above reach. 11 What citadel has the rich man? His own possessions; he seems shut in by a wall impregnable; 12 yet hearts are proudest when ruin is nearest; humility is the ante-chamber of renown.

24 A man endeared to thee by fellowship will prove a better friend to thee than thy own kin.[8]

24Vir amabilis ad societatemmagis amicus erit quam frater.

[1] ‘Quick to find pretexts’; in the Hebrew text, ‘selfish’.

[2] The sense and the bearing of this maxim are open to dispute.

[3] The words printed in brackets are found in the Septuagint Greek, but not in the Hebrew text.

[4] Literally, ‘A just man is the first to accuse himself’; but this can hardly mean that he confesses his guilt, since there would be no need, in that case, for investigation by his neighbours. The sense will be rather that he makes admissions which at first sight tell against his innocence. The Hebrew text is obscure; with some difficulty, it is interpreted as meaning, ‘He who speaks first is always (apparently) in the right’.

[5] The Hebrew text here is usually rendered, ‘A brother trespassed (against) is (harder to win over) than a strong city; (such) contentions are like the bars of a fortress’.

[6] ‘Lovingly’ is usually interpreted as meaning ‘lavishly’, but ‘with due reverence’ may be meant.

[7] The second part of this verse is found in the Septuagint Greek, but not in the Hebrew text.

[8] This verse is very obscure, and perhaps corrupt; some infer from the Hebrew text a contrast between fair-weather and genuine friends.